Chapter 42: Shopping
The good news: Rebecca was willing to sell every single item she had brought—as long as the price was right.
The bad news: according to Rebecca, all of these items had been bought from various secondhand stalls. They might have some effect when it came to exorcism—but not much.
“For example, this obsidian cross,” she said, scratching the tip of her nose a little sheepishly. “It was once blessed by a bishop. If used by a member of the clergy together with the Bible, it can barely kill a low-level spirit. But in the hands of an ordinary person, it can at most injure one.”
By “member of the clergy,” Rebecca meant someone who held a position within the Church and had undergone ordination or formal consecration—not just any devout believer. Everly, who had no particular faith to speak of, obviously didn’t qualify.
“And what about these? What are they supposed to be?” Everly asked.
She pushed aside the amulets, crosses, and crystal balls piled on top, digging out the odds and ends buried underneath: a doll missing one eyeball, a heavily worn length of rope, a whip tied to a wooden handle, and a pair of socks riddled with holes…
“Oh, those are also items I painstakingly collected that can affect evil forces,” Rebecca explained. “Take this doll, for example. In occultism, dolls resemble humans in appearance but are hollow inside and lack a true inner self, which makes them prone to attracting wandering spirits. This particular doll was buried alongside a 19th-century serial killer and lay in his tomb with him for over a hundred years. Because it absorbed its master’s wickedness, it has an unusually strong pull on malicious spirits. If you throw it out, evil entities will be unconsciously drawn to it and crawl inside.”
She raised a finger. “Though it only lasts for a very short time—about thirty seconds at most. And you must keep it in a dedicated box when not in use. If you leave it out carelessly, it can attract wandering souls.”
“That sounds pretty good,” Everly said, nodding. “A decent life-saving tool.”